Picture Day!

I think I want to do this for every birthday with the kids. I don't want to call it a "photo shoot" for fear of sounding too much like Toddlers in Tiaras but we had a great time together getting some fun 4 year old pictures of her. I was very proud at how well they turned out and I didn't even have to use any effects in photoshop. Props to me. It was a pretty dreary day which gave me the best lighting. I'm starting a photo class this month and I'm super excited to finally understand all the stuff I'm just winging with the camera at the minute. There were lots of fun photos so in my usual style lately, I made a collage to enjoy them better. What I love most about these shots is how you can totally get a glimpse into her personality.

The brick background is an old school close by. I wanted to not have to have dirty old snow in the background. On our way driving there, I saw these apartments with the dark blue wooden siding so I rang some dude's door bell and asked him if I could take some pictures on his front porch. Yes, he thought I was weird. I said, "Hi, you don't know me and I'm not selling anything but..." He was really nice. Anyway, on with the show!

Luncheon

Chloe came home for lunch today. She doesn't come home very often because by the time we pack up the kids, pick her up, and eat, it is already time to pack everybody up and take her back to school. Still, all the kids thought it was great to see her and it was. After lunch they were all playing in the pretend kitchen cooking things and Gavin was whisking something and before you knew it, it was time to scramble and get everybody dressed for the freezing wind outside and drive her back to school. Since we were running late (big shocker), Chloe jumped out mumbling a quick "good-bye". As soon as the sliding door was shut, Gavin just burst into tears and absolute hysteria. He loves that kid. So what's Tati left to do? Well, of course she starts to make hissing dragon noises at him. So he's laughing and crying all the way back to our house.

Back to School

Chloe is back to school today and it is sad and lonely without her. It's going to take us some time to get used to not having her around--especially when it comes to diaper changes with Gavin. The person having the hardest time is also her worst enemy. Here is one of the many happy memories they shared over Christmas.

Feliz Navidad

I realized that I never mentioned Pinecone 2.0. Here she is:

Lowe's took our dead tree back no problem. We then got a Douglas Fir instead of a Noble and got money back and a live tree. He didn't smell as yummy as the first one but that might have been a blessing seeing as Gavin didn't eat these needles like he did the other ones. Mostly Mommy and Chloe decorated Pinecone the Second because everybody else really only found it thrilling the first time. I added tinsel to this one though and I laughed as I heard myself saying the things my parents used to say to me about not just throwing it at the tree but meticulously putting one tinsel piece on every branch.

Christmas was great this year. Don't get me wrong, we always miss our families on Christmas and wish we were around them but at the same time it was nice to have a free day with no schedule and no plans other than what we wanted to do. The kids were on their best behavior all day and we had a really fun day. It was fun to have church on Christmas too. I should've gotten a picture of our family outfits but it was a crazy day. We did red and black this year. Then we did black and white for New Years. The only difference in both these schemes were the girls each wore different dresses. I need to get my body into more rocking condition so my smaller clothes will fit. That is one of my new year's goals.

We did our nativity acting out with my favorite nativity that my mom made. I'll try and drop the hint again for an angel here Mom. And a shepherd would be great too.

We also each wrote a way that we would follow Jesus this year like how the wise men followed the star to see him.
Tati: Said she would be better at sharing nicely with her siblings. She is also going to say lots of "pleases".
Chloe: Go to church and follow the commandments.
Gavin: He is going to try to cry and whine less so we can feel more peace.
Greg: I will study the scriptures everyday.
Me: I will talk nicer to people especially when I am frustrated.

Anyway, after that we ate breakfast and then started opening our presents. We tried really hard to get Gavin into it all. He liked ripping a little bit of the paper but it got old really fast. His favorite present was something he got when he was a baby and Chloe re-wrapped it up for him. It is a teddy bear stuffie. It was pretty hilarious.

Chloe did that a lot. For some reason she had all this stress at the last minute that she didn't have gifts for everybody so she asked for some wrapping paper and went around finding things that she knew we would love. Gavin got his old teddy bear, Tati got a bunch of rocks and shells that is always trying to steal from Chloe, I got a picture of baby Chloe that is usually on my night stand and Greg got some rocks that he gave Chloe and a small magnifying glass. It was pretty sweet.

Santa was really boring and brought the kids some movies. Every year I think about how I hate Santa but for some reason I didn't hate him so much this time. Then again I also thought about how I really want us to celebrate the Wise Men instead. In Argentina they celebrate "El Dia de los Reyes" where you put your shoes out and the wise men come and leave you treats in your shoes. It is also the day you are supposed to pack up your nativity sets. This is so fun to me and I'd rather they leave treats out for the camels then the reindeer. But I didn't get my smack together enough this year so we'll see if I can do it next year. My sister was telling me about the "Elf on a shelf" and I thought this sounded really fun too but I don't want my kids to be good just because they think some elf is reporting their behavior to Santa each night. And my kids would believe.

Chloe's favorite present was a package of "teensies". They are a mini version of the Littlest Pet Shops. Although she also loved her new owl beanie. This awesome girl in my ward actually crocheted some new beanies for the kids. Tati got an owl too and Gavin got a monster that he refused to keep on his head for any sort of picture so I included a picture with him wearing a different hat. Aren't they so cute?! I love them. (Thank you Addie!)


Tati's favorite present was Cars 2 and some random dollar store necklaces and rings that were in her stocking . Greg's favorite present was a new tie for his very large tie collection. He also loved that Chloe re-gifted him some rocks, and my favorite present was a music maker which I guess technically is a family present but since I picked it out and was most excited about playing it, it was really my present. I wish I would've done more research and just happened to have bought the Christmas music pack but oh well. I'll just have to buy it for next year. It was much easier than me dusting off my sorry violin and screeching out "O Holy Night" to myself. (As my mother and brother laugh with those memories.)

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas too!

Ice Sledding

We went sledding with some friends after Christmas and it was super fun and scary. This has been a strange Winter here and there is practically no snow and the snow that is left usually semi melts during the day and then freezes again at night so the hill we went to was super icy. It was giving me a bit of a panic attack at how daring my children were and thankfully half way through our expedition I remembered we had some helmets in the car from ice skating so I made them put them on their noggins. Soon after Tati rammed into Greg. It was like on that Chevy Chase movie when he is sledding on that disc and there are sparks and fireworks because he is going so fast. We only went about 1/3 of the way up the hill. There were some idiots going to the very top and sliding down. It is a miracle they are alive and no ambulance was called. Greg wanted to go really high but I reminded him of his bad luck with injuries and his lack of helmet so he decided to make me happy instead of going for it. Thank you Greg.

Anyway, since he wasn't hot dogging down the hill too much, he was able to get some great shots like these:

Poor Gavin spent most of the time in his stroller but when we finally got him out, he was just smiling and "talking" to us so excitedly--it was super cute. And speaking of cute, how's this?

My beanie babies

These are some of the pics I used on our Christmas letter. I wanted to get the kids in beanies so they looked more festive. They call beanies "toques" here. Anyway, the kids all got some new toques for Christmas and I wish I would've taken their pictures in those, but I didn't want to ruin the surprise for them. I don't know much about photography (in fact I'm excited to start a photo class in a few weeks) but what has consistently worked the best is to position the kids in total shade and then play around with the full or partial flash.

And please notice Gavin's cute, little teeth showing up.

The 12 Days of Christmas

We got a fun idea from the Deseret News to do the "12 Days of Service" instead of the "12 Days of Christmas". We were looking for ways to make Christmas less about worldly stuff and more about the spirit of Christmas. Overall I think it was a good experience and I think the kids enjoyed it but it was more work than the simple idea of doing treats each day. We didn't always get each day's task done on the actual day. Still, I think it is something we'll try again next year and just adjust the ideas of what to do each day.

Here's what we did this year:
1. Do your chores without whining.
We should make this something for us to strive for everyday.

2. Do something nice for somebody.

3. Do something nice for somebody in the city.
For this one we did this fun project called, "Suffies for Puppies" where you can donate old stuffed animals to the animals at the humane society.


It was a big thrill to touch all the cats and dogs and watch them bite and play with the stuffies. I say it was a big thrill until a dog jumped Chloe and scratched her and then she panicked and then the girls crowded the door and we couldn't get out of the kennel and by then they were all crying and yelling and we had to leave. I made us try to end on a positive note and visit this little dog on the way out. I think it was special. Tati kept picking up kibble and feeding it to the dog one by one.

4. Write a letter or draw a picture for a missionary.
My nephew, Kyle, is in Russia on his mission right now. It was a nice chance to focus on having the girls draw him a picture and write a short letter.

5. Give somebody a book.
This one we didn't actually do because we sort of chickened out. We were going to give a book to our white trash neighbors' child because we feel sorry for him. Then the girls picked out this old Christmas book and then his parents were yelling and rude so we just didn't do it. "Here's an old book that we don't want but we wanted to give to you." Yeah, the kid probably would've liked it but technically he's still too young to really "read" a book but just destroy it. I'm a little disappointed that we couldn't make this one work.

6. Ask for a special blessing for somebody in our prayers.
Our friend got shingles on his noggin so it was nice to hear the girls pray for him and for his head. It was super cute. And he got better which is obviously thanks to us praying for him.

7. Christmas caroling on video chat.
This one was great. I think we will totally do this every year now. We didn't get the idea to take a picture of it until we sang to my parents so sorry Pop. I think for next time maybe we'll prepare a little more for this one. There's only so many "Jingle Bells" a person can take.


8. Visit some old people in your ward.
Some of our friends invited us to go caroling to a retirement center so we did that instead. Well really only Chloe and Greg went because it was a little late and the little kids were tired but I say it still counts.

9. Write a thank you card to the Bishop.
He puts in a lot of time so we wanted the girls to start to realize what sacrificing time and effort for others means. They drew him some pictures.

10. Compliment Day.
This one was fun to hear. The girls said stuff like, "You have really strong teeth for biting." and "You are really good at smiling." It was really cute.

11. Share your feelings of Jesus and Christmas with your family.

12. Show gratitude. Say lots of "thank-yous" to people you love and who help you.

I would definitely recommend trying this with your family too.